Whole Dog Journal's Blog
July 7, 2015

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Musing About Unusual Mixed-Breeds

The dog shown here is half Bloodhound, half Border Collie. I was skeptical, too. Bloodhound I can see. But I don’t see a trace of Border Collie.

Then I learned her story. Indy was an “accident” – the product of two purebreds owned by a family who actually breeds and shows Border Collies and Bloodhounds. I wouldn’t have guessed that a fan of one of those breeds would also possess the other, but you never know about people. Indy’s owner could testify to the certain presence of Border Collie; she bought Indy as a puppy who was still trying to suckle her totally-over-it Border Collie mother.

I was reminded of this incongruous cross last weekend when I saw these dogs. I never got a chance to ask what they were; they also look like some sort of Bloodhound-mix. I saw these dogs at a sports event within 80 miles of Indy’s breeder; could they have been littermates? The odds are against it, in a state as populated as California, but who knows? Weirder things have happened.

What’s the weirdest mix you’ve ever seen? Just among the mixed-breed dogs whose parentage was certain? Breeds whose origins were just a guess don’t count here.

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Comments (44)

I went to a fun dog day, and saw a Brittany Spaniel and Shar Pei mix. The poor thing had the slim body of the Brittany and the huge out of proportion square head of the Shar Pei. It was just a sad looking thing. But I could tell she was loved and that's what was important.

Years ago I had a wonderful Basset-Shepherd mix (both breeds confirmed by breed specific medical issues in his later years). He was intelligent with a great sense of dog humour. He looked like a shepherd with short legs, beagle length ears and a tail longer than he was tall. We called him a Shepssett rather than a Bassherd. He was with me till he was almost 17 years old. I wasn't sure of his birthday, so I designated April 1 : - ) He was amazing and people still talk about him even though he's been gone for 27 years.

Many years ago, I had a coworker named Spot (Yes, his real name!). Spot had an unusual dog named Joshua. This dog was half German Shepherd and half Chihuahua. Looked almost exactly like a German Shepherd, except for his size, which was not much bigger than his father, the Chihuahua.

I have a dog who the rescue thought was Rottweiler and Bernese mountain dog. I thought she was a catahoula mix so does my vet. Had DNA test done turns out to be Siberian husky and daschund on one side and anatolian shepherd, staffordshire terrier,Norwegian elkhound, silky terrier and Skye terrier on the other. My vet refuses to believe it and says she is a catahoula.

I was once fostering a malamute who was a 5 months old male. I owned a irish water spaniel. She was on heat and escaped out the window to be with the malamute. After the vet told me there was little chance of pregnancy and two ultra sounds later with no comfirmed report of pregnancy we were surprised one afternoon with a single pup which we called an irish malamutt or mal for short. She had the markings of a burnese mountain dog with a malamute head sort of and a soft straight to slightly wavy coat. She did have the brains of her mother but no real physical appearance of either.

I have a GermanSt.RoBoPekaShire! So many people asked if he was a Chow, I had a DNA done on him & just laughed when it came back. German short-haired Pointer - St. Bernard - Rottweiler - Boxer - Pekinese - American Staffordshire Terrier! He has spots on his tongue, which the vet said are birthmarks, since I questioned the Chow. Weighs @ 85 lbs. and has long hair of the St., markings of the Rotty above his eyes, bowlegged rear end of the terrier, when shaved - behind his neck & on his rump, the German shorthair, and when hair is in along his rump is the wavy Pekinese. Haven't narrowed down the boxer yet, maybe the length of ears. Mainly tan, white & black blended coat. Very sweet and a Mama's boy!

I have a GermanSt.RoBoPekaShire! So many people asked if he was a Chow, I had a DNA done on him & just laughed when it came back. German short-haired Pointer - St. Bernard - Rottweiler - Boxer - Pekinese - American Staffordshire Terrier! He has spots on his tongue, which the vet said are birthmarks, since I questioned the Chow. Weighs @ 85 lbs. and has long hair of the St., markings of the Rotty above his eyes, bowlegged rear end of the terrier, when shaved - behind his neck & on his rump, the German shorthair, and when hair is in along his rump is the wavy Pekinese. Haven't narrowed down the boxer yet, maybe the length of ears. Mainly tan, white & black blended coat. Very sweet and a Mama's boy!

The strangest mix I've seen is Pit Bull Terrier & Chihauha. They were quite small, maybe 15 lbs., very muscular with upright ears. Completely adorable, but it begs 2 questions; 1, How did that happen? & 2, Was that wise?

The strangest dog I ever met was on a cross-country trip many years ago -- a cross between an Afghan and a St Bernard. It had the coat of an Afghan, a head like a St Bernard, weighed at least 150 pounds, and thought it was a lapdog.

I wonder why this article is posted here on July 7, 2015 yet some comments date back to 2011? Anyway, I wonder if the top dog really is the result of a Bloodhound, BC crossing because in those genetics classes in high school biology we learned the F1 generation will greatly resemble one parent or the other and it's not till the F3 that you get a blending of features, and that dog sure looks blended. Or has high school genetics/biology changed that much? Or, wait, neither Bloodhound nor BC was genetically "pure" ?

I have a dog that everyone thought including me was a beagle / greyhound mix. but her DNA test shows she is an Australian Shepherd / Treeing Walker Coon hound. Even stranger. She looks very much like a very tall very slender beagle though. Has the hound dog disposition. loves to chase squirrels, cats, racoons up trees and then bark nonstop at them. She is from the south Tennessee to be exact and obviously a breeder of coon hounds didn't want her because she was now "mixed" Well, had they kept her, she would've been the best "Tree er" in all of Tennessee! But now she's mine and I love her!!!

I have a dog that everyone thought including me was a beagle / greyhound mix. but her DNA test shows she is an Australian Shepherd / Treeing Walker Coon hound. Even stranger. She looks very much like a very tall very slender beagle though. Has the hound dog disposition. loves to chase squirrels, cats, racoons up trees and then bark nonstop at them. She is from the south Tennessee to be exact and obviously a breeder of coon hounds didn't want her because she was now "mixed" Well, had they kept her, she would've been the best "Tree er" in all of Tennessee! But now she's mine and I love her!!!

Dexter is a Beagle x Springer Spaniel and is a mighty fine looking dog, he attracts admiring glances and enquiries whenever we're out and about. He's more Spaniel in size and appearance but has a short coat without feathering and is tri- colored like a Beagle, a sibling of his is smaller and looks very much like a Beagle facially but the same color and markings.Dexter has an acute 'sense of sniff' and loves to go trailing and has the typical lyrical bark of a Hound. He is quite shy and sensitive as is the nature of a Spaniel but also a 'merri' soul as is inherent in all Beagles and has great stamina and endurance. He's a perfect blend of both breeds really. All in all, he's a great dog...Dexter Prince of Hounds! Janine W VIC/AUST

I always thought my dog was a husky/lab/greyhound mix. She is about husky size, has a very deep chest with semi-prick ears, her coat is smooth black double coat with merle (?) on her chest, a blaze down her midface, webbed feet, curls her otter tail over her back like a husky, but her most striking feature are her ice blue eyes. Imagine ice blue eyes on a black dog! We had 2 DNA tests done on her and neither of them mention husky (!?). Nope, instead they say she is a rottweiler, italian greyhound, lab, black & tan coonhound mix. She is a looker that's for sure!

Many, many years ago, when I lived in a rural farm community, and before I became a responsible pet owner,(ashamed to say - but now a staunch advocate of spay/neuter), my neighbors male Beagle mated with my female Husky/Shepherd/Collie mix. Never figured out how that could happened. Some of the 6 puppies looked like Beagles and some looked like Husky, but were smaller and shorter. That Beagle was determined.

As a volunteer with a rescue, I've seen all sorts of combinations. It's amazing how great or silly they can look, however, they are still full of unconditional love that they want to show us. On a more serious topic though, It is important to note that when purebreds mate with another breed that was not intended, the puppies all too often end up in kill shelters. Owners can't be bothered finding homes for the puppies and if they breed their dogs, they do not want to have the mixed litter around to ruin their dogs' breeding record. Most of the dogs in shelters are mixed breeds. Only 25% of dogs and puppies that are in the shelters are purebreds. For those of you who care, please spay and neuter your pets. Is is horrible to see healthy dogs, and puppies killed.

Aussie dam and Dalmation sire. Our "Stetson" is smooth coated, spotted black and white like a Dalmation but with some big spots too. He's a very attractive, medium sized dog who is VERY sensitive.

When I was a kid, my Afghan (blue brindle with black mask) sired a litter of 12 pups with the next door neighbor's German Shorthair Pointer. Every pup turned out coal black, really tall and muscular, and were very nice dogs.

Several months ago I met a beautiful little wolf hybrid at a horse event. "Fatty's" owner claimed to have witnessed the union of his parents, dad, a pug -- mom a tame grey wolf. He looks kind of like a large "puggle" (pug/beagle cross) with beautiful golden eyes and the coloring of a wolf.

My son adopted a boxer-springer spaniel mix. She is shiny black with a white tuxedo and paws. She's called a boxspring, and is just as adorable as her name. Boxer body - long legs and profile - with a springer muzzle and eyes. Extremely energetic and starting agility class tonight!

I rescued a little guy last September who is an American Eskimo and Corgi mix. What a sweetheart! He has the Corgi body, legs, and turned out feet, but has the Eski fur and tail, only instead of pure white, he is primarily a light biscuit color. His head shape and face are somewhere between the two. You would think he'd have prick ears or at least big ones standing tall, but they're basically "floppy" eskie size ears. I love him to bits!

I know a family with a border colie-dalmation-basset houns mix. Silliest looking thing ever. Short with the basset legs, black and white patches from the colie (long fur also from the colie) and the under coat has faint black spots. Her head looks like a colie with longer than normal drop ears. But she's a doll! Great personality!

The shelter where I used to work received Whippet/Dane puppies from the same family 2 years in a row. Both parents were AKC purebreds. A brindle whippet and a harlequin dane...They finally spayed the female dane. All the pups were really neat looking and are all super sweet. They ranged in size as adults from 55-85 pounds.

The woman who owns the feed store in town has a little black dog that my sister and I thought was a purebred Schipperke. It turns out that this little dog was the offspring of her German Shephard and a wandering lustful Chihuaha! I am sure that no one would have known by looking at her.

Lol, Like the Lab X Basset mix and the Great Dane X Basset mix, I saw a pic on petfinder of a yellow lab X corgi mix. I saved the pic; looked just like a regular yellow lab w/ short legs. Wish I could post the pic here.

My dad had a mutt who was beagle/rottie...he looked just like a mini, a little bit longer, rottie. Super cute.

And while it's not the oddest, my mother and I both have Pomeranian X corgis, a year apart, from the same "accident" twice. My girl has the large ears, about 15 lbs, longer legs, longer body, longer pom type coat. Her sister basically looks like a chihuahua on steriods. She weighs about the same amount, but is half the size, HUGE chest, short spikey prickly hair, big ears. Super cute :)

Recently, I saw the most striking dog. It looked like a blue merle Malamute with a short puff of a tail. Having never seen a malamute that looked like this, I asked the owner. Sure enough, her dog was Australian Shepherd and Malamute. This dog was so cool looking. Unfortunately, he wasn't very friendly.

I have a Jack Russell Terrier/Lab Mix. He is shaped like a football with a beard! Unfortunatly he has bad hips from this strange breeding combo, but he is one of our best dogs.
I also have a stray that we thought was a Border Collie Mix, we did an at home DNA test and it showed Norwegian Elkhound, Akita, Chihuahua, Sheltie, Siberian Husky, and Westie.

The Basset/Dane mix must have been really funny. I have 2 oddies to report.

The first was a stray that we had for a couple of years. She had the markings and basic face of a Beagle, if a Beagle had run straight into a wall and squashed its nose. Her back was a tad long, and her legs were definitely short. Pug/Beagle/Dachshund, perhaps?

The other was a litter of pups I saw when they were about 3 months old. The very enterprising dad was a Chihuahua; the mom, a Norwegian Elkhound. Sad to say, not every puppy is cute.... Guess one could have been named, perhaps, Pablo Olsen!

Basset and Great Dane - oh my. How funny. The oddest I ever saw was a bunch of pups whose dad was a very determined Chihuahua and the mom was a Norwegian Elkhound. I hate to say it, but not all puppies are cute.... I guess one of them could've been named Pablo Olsen....

We are a small breed rescue. We once took in a pregnant hairless Chinese Crested dog. The sire of her pups was a yorkie. You could clearly see both breeds represented in the litter. So stinkin' cute they were!!! www.rccr.petfinder.com

A friend has a black Lab/dachshund mix. Same deal, a family owned two purebreds and ended up with puppies - actually only puppy. She was the only puppy to survive birth and she had to be bottle fed. The family kept her for a while but then decided she wasn't a puppy anymore, so my friend ended up with her. She's stinking adorable - looks like a black Lab puppy only with short legs. She has a little otter tail, a beautiful shiny double coat, and webbed feet. And her favorite pasttimes are fetch and swimming!

I adopted a corgi/doberman mix. I didn't see it initially. I was thinking shepherd / dachshund which would have been about the same odd combo. Her original vet told me what she was. Unfortunately, she also inherited the dobermans heart disease and was not with us long enough. She was a wonderful dog and I'll always miss her

Don't think for a minute that the dogs you saw at the sports event couldn't be related to the unusual breed litter. I was looking for a dog for a friend and being a Spinone owner I found Edgar, a Spinone mix on Petfinder. We live in Massachusetts and the dog was in Colorado. She adopted another dog from the South. Months later I was in Maine and I noticed a cute Spinone looking dog in a guy's pick-up truck. When I began talking to him about the dog, and how cute he was, he mentioned he got the dog out West, and you guessed it, it was Edgar's brother. What are the odds?

Basset and Great Dane. He was the size of a Great Dane, but with short legs, a harlequin coloring, one blue eye, one brown and Basset ears, only a tad shorter. I always wondered how that mating was accomplished. :)